In order for a digital printer to successfully complete a print job, the print job attributes, such as specified media characteristics and finishing operations must be fully supported by the available printer resources and capabilities. That is, for example, the printer must support the necessary font, must be equipped with print media in the correct size and color and must be connected to the necessary finishing device to perform any required finishing operation. If the attributes specified by the print job are not supported by the printer, a “mismatch state” exists, and the printer will be unable to print the job, at least in the form the customer requested. The result is that the printer is either unable to print the job at all, or prints the job on different size paper, different color paper or without stapling or hole-punching the finished copies, for example.
Such a mismatch results in wasted time, in the case of a print job that cannot be run and requires reconfiguration of the print job attributes or printer resources, or in wasted time and money, in the case of print job being run on incorrect media or with incorrect or no finishing, requiring the print job to be completely re-run. Additionally, rendering by the raster image processor (“RIP”) is a time consuming process and, therefore, many digital printers automatically check for potential mismatch conditions prior to initiating rendering.